The news is mixed this week — some Barron's folks think that we are in for a tough slog in 2010, and this opinion is echoed separately by the latest news from Allianz PIMCO's Bill Gross and Mohamed El-Erian, who are looking for a 2% improvement in GNP. It is always interesting to see how Messrs. Gross, El-Erian and PIMCO's top 100 plus analysts read the tea leaves, isn't it?
My wife thinks it will be a tough year. She is often right.
Keep in mind that the prognostications of late from Barron's, Forbes, Fortune, Smart Money and most all the magazines in our financial planning world are mixed — even Barron's writers are not of one opinion. How do you feel? I have trouble primarily with the difficulty of credit for small businesses (hard to get, no matter how much jawboning the federales do) and wondering about who is going to buy cars and homes, even at reduced prices. I'm not sure we as a country are saving or being forced into it by lack of credit. Yes, our companies are running lean and mean; even so, there have to be buyers. I've been re-reading Brian Wesbury's It's Not as Bad as You Think. It contains lots of truths, and is a book I seem to be reading over and over again. Did I mention that he sees opportunity in chaos?
